The current regulatory framework often relies on the results of the health effect studies
conducted on individual compounds, which is responsible, in part, for the bias towards
a contaminant-by-contaminant approach (i.e., individual regulatory levels of what
constitutes "safe"). One limitation of the individual constituent approach is that it does
not view drinking water as the complex "soup" of constituents (e.g., minerals, microbes,
byproducts, etc.) that it actually is.
While many constituents (regulated and unregulated) are monitored by water utilities,
currently health effects information are available for a limited number of these. One
alternative approach for gaining insight as to improving the healthfulness of water that
already meets regulatory standards is to assess the risk of the entire mixture. This more
holistic approach would guide efforts focused on the reduction of total risks rather than
the reduction of any particular risk.
A risk index method that calculates the values for cancer, non-cancer and
microbiological endpoints has been developed (though subject to many limitations).
Emerging contaminants (e.g., NDMA, perchlorate, endocrine disruptors) need to be
considered as well. This paper focuses on the analysis method for the cancer endpoint. Includes 4 references, table.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
| File Size : | 1
file |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 7 |
| Published : | 11/15/2004 |
